Plantar Fasciitis: How I Beat My Long-Term Battle With Heel Pain

Plantar aspects of foot, varying depths (superficial to deep) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I’ve been meaning to write this post for a long time. However, I’ve been holding off because I wanted to be sure that I have in fact won my battle with persistent heel pain. I’m finally at a point where I think my war with plantar fasciitis is officially over.

As a runner, I’ve been very lucky in that I have not succumbed to any significant running-related injuries. In fact, the only injury that kept me from running for more than a few days occurred as a result of running a second marathon in a month’s time in a new pair of racing flats (my first marathon in flats). I developed a case of peroneal tendonitis that stopped me cold on a few subsequent runs and sent me limping back to my house. Given the stupidity of my approach to that race, I deserved to get hurt, but even then I missed less than a week of running.

For the most part, my body seems to repair itself pretty quickly. Aches and pains pop up, and usually within a few days they go away. I’m usually good at listening to my body, and I’ve developed strategies for attacking aches that seem to be very effective for me (e.g., mixing up shoes). However, the one pain that appeared and simply did not want to go away began in late 2010.

I can’t remember exactly when my heel pain started, but I think it was shortly after the above-mentioned race in which I injured myself. I know that the pain was in full force in January 2011, and it lingered for well over a year. The symptoms pointed to a classic case of plantar fasciitis. Pain, sometimes intense, upon first waking up in the morning, just below my left heel. It hurt to put any kind of pressure on my heel for the first few steps after getting out of bed. After a bit of walking the pain would ease off, and on most days it would go away such that it wasn’t a big deal. Sometimes it would hurt on runs, most often not, and it was never bad enough to keep me from running (I didn’t miss a single day of running due to heel pain). I couldn’t find any pattern linking my footwear choices to the appearance of the pain, except that shoes with hard heels made it hurt when I walked (e.g., Merrell Trail Glove and Vibram Trek Sport), and I recall one memorably painful run in the Saucony Guide 5 (talk about shoes that have little in common!).

Until summer 2011, the pain was isolated to my left foot. That summer I ran a 5K in Vibram Fivefingers just to see how fast I could go in a barefoot-style shoe, and though the race went well, I strained the insertion of my abductor hallucis muscle on the inner side of my right heel. The insertion was tender, and not long after that pain appeared underneath my right heel as well. I had what I self-diagnosed to be bilateral plantar fasciitis (I may or may not have had a bit of assistance from Dr. Google, perhaps you know him?).

I was never particularly aggressive in trying to treat the pain, mainly because it was never much more than a first-thing-in-the-morning nuisance. A bit of calf stretching, both straight legged and bent-knee to target the soleus muscle, seemed to do the trick. Being in zero drop shoes at work all day seemed to keep things loose and stretched out (particularly my calves), which I think helped prevent progression to a more severe case, and on most days I’d forget that I even had a problem. But the pain was still there every morning, both under the heels on each side and at the abductor hallucis insertion on the right side. By early 2012 I realized that when something painful lingers for over a year, it might be worth getting it checked out (yes, I am sometimes stubborn). My wife had been seeing a chiropractor friend (Brett Coapland of Performance Health Spine and Sport Therapy) who specializes in treating athletes (she’s had nagging hip issues since the birth of our daughter), and I decided to let him have a go at fixing my feet.

Brett has great manual therapy skills, and he did some active release work and Graston on my feet and calves. He also did a bit of dry needling – not sure if it helped, but it sure felt interesting. He also gave me some exercises and stretches to loosen up my posterior chain – my hamstrings and calves were wickedly tight after years of neglect. We talked a lot about trigger points (I had some really tender spots in my lower legs), and he had me doing regular foam rolling of my calves, particularly my soleus in the lower calf.

The first foam rolling sessions were intensely painful, even worse-so when I used the Rumble Roller, which may as well be a medieval torture device! I remember on one occasion my 2yo son taking the roller away and putting it out in the hall because I was screaming out while rolling my legs. In addition to stretching my hams and calves, I also regularly worked my foot over a rubber bouncy ball (stolen from my kids – they’re a great source of improvised self-therapy devices) and a Foot Rubz ball.

Over the following weeks I noticed my hamstring mobility improving - I actually reached a point where I could touch my toes with locked knees - never been able to do that in my life! Un-weighted, stiff-legged deadlifts in front of a wall seemed to really help stretch out my hams. Foam rolling got progressively less painful, and I became a strong believer that it does actually accomplish something beneficial – it seemed to really work away some of the angry spots in my calves. It’s really hard to say for sure, but the heel pain did seem to subside a bit as I headed into Spring 2012.

Another thing worth mentioning is that in January of this year I started taking Taekwondo classes with my kids. Taekwondo is great for improving flexibility and strengthening the feet and legs. It’s also great for improving balance. We always practice barefoot, and much of the class involves standing on one foot. Again, I don’t know if this helped, but it’s a factor worth mentioning. I also played around a bit with using Therabands for foot strengthening, as well as an AFX Foot Strengthener, which is an interesting device. I’m really lousy when it comes to following through on home strength work though, and given that Taekwondo was a scheduled class twice per week, that was my most consistent outlet for strengthening exercise.

Move the calendar forward to July 2012, and I embarked on the two most intense months of running I have ever undertaken (monthly mileage PR’s in both July and August). And, rather surprisingly, my increase in mileage coincided with a complete cessation of my foot pain. My feet still felt a bit tight when I first woke up (and they still do), but no pain to speak of, and nothing at all during the day or on runs. The lingering pain at the insertion of my right abductor hallucis muscle disappeared as well.Three months later and that’s where I am now – pain free and still not quite sure how I got here.

Lots of people will claim to have the answer to curing plantar fasciitis. I will make no such claim. All I can say is that the diminishment and ultimate cessation of my pain seemed to coincide with three things – starting Taekwondo in January, being treated by Brett and following his advice in the winter through early Spring (mostly for calf work after the initial few appointments), and ramping up my mileage from Spring into summer (2011 was a low for me running-wise – many weeks with only 10-15 miles max). I don’t know which of these factors, if any, was most important in fixing me (or if all played a role), but let me wildly speculate for a minute (this is, after all, a blog and not a medical journal, so I’m allowed to wave my hands around a bit here).

Here’s what I think happened. I started running minimalist in 2009. As it does for most people, moving to low drop shoes, particularly zero drop, non-cushioned shoes, resulted in a lot of initial calf soreness for me. I had sore calves for a long time, and I never did anything to take care of them. No stretching, no foam rolling, nothing. I think that as I accumulated more and more miles in flat shoes my calves got progressively tighter and tighter. Then, I ran a hard marathon training cycle in late 2010, with two hard-effort marathons in late 2010. I think the progressive battering of my calves for over a year combined with those races (and the preceding intense training) may have triggered the pain in my feet. I continued to do nothing to take care of my legs through 2011 (short of being in flat shoes all day to keep my calves from shortening up), and my mileage diminished considerably so there was less positive stimulus for repair. The pain lingered.

As I moved into 2012 I began doing intensive strengthening and flexibility work on my feet and legs in Taekwondo, then added to that by seeing my chiropractor and following his treatment plan. The calf foam rolling worked wonders, and continued flexibility work helped as well. As my calves loosened up, they pulled up less on my calcaneus on each side and eased some of the strain on the plantar fascia below (the tissues are all interconnected). My calves no longer seem to get sore when I run zero drop now, so that is an added bonus. Then, as I increased my mileage I kept a good positive repair stimulus going and kept the blood flowing well to the damaged regions of my feet. Repair occurred, and the pain went away.

The above story sounds good, but it’s just my speculation about what worked. One of my goals in the future is really to dig into the literature on specific running injuries and summarize what we do and don’t know (I hope it doesn’t lead to another book…).

If I had to give advice to anyone dealing with chronic plantar fasciitis it would be to not focus solely on the feet. Consider your calves, as well as regions higher up in the leg. The pain in your foot may simply be a reaction to a problem somewhere else (e.g., incredibly tight calves from going minimalist without any attempt to maintain tissue quality in transition – I’m a disciple of Jay Dicharry in this line of thinking, read his book!).

If you have tight calves, get a foam roller – I really have become a believer in what they can do with regular use. I’ve come to believe that a foam roller should be mandatory equipment for anyone planning to go minimalist, particularly if your goal is to go zero drop. You need to take care of those legs in transition! Do as I say, not as I did – I hope people can learn from my mistake :)

I also think that being in zero drop shoes almost full time prevented progression of my pain into something more severe. Pain occurred for me immediately after any time I relaxed my calves for an extended period of time – at night while sleeping, in the evening on the couch, etc. Wearing flat shoes all day helped to keep my calves fully lengthened while standing and walking, whereas a heel lift would have shortened their working range during the day.

And don’t think that treating pain always requires rest – my pain went away in concert with the biggest ramp-up of mileage in my life! Rest can definitely be helpful in overcoming acute pain, but it doesn’t necessarily resolve the underlying cause – you need to get at the root of the problem if you want long term resolution of the issue. Again, for more on this read Jay Dicharry’s book.

Most importantly, don’t despair – my heel pain, though never acute, lasted for upwards of 16 months. But it’s now gone, and I just ran a half-marathon PR last weekend. There is a light at the end of the sometimes very dark plantar fasciitis tunnel!

Read More

Plantar Fasciitis: How I Beat My Long-Term Battle With Heel Pain

Plantar aspects of foot, varying depths (superficial to deep) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I’ve been meaning to write this post for a long time. However, I’ve been holding off because I wanted to be sure that I have in fact won my battle with persistent heel pain. I’m finally at a point where I think my war with plantar fasciitis is officially over.

As a runner, I’ve been very lucky in that I have not succumbed to any significant running-related injuries. In fact, the only injury that kept me from running for more than a few days occurred as a result of running a second marathon in a month’s time in a new pair of racing flats (my first marathon in flats). I developed a case of peroneal tendonitis that stopped me cold on a few subsequent runs and sent me limping back to my house. Given the stupidity of my approach to that race, I deserved to get hurt, but even then I missed less than a week of running.

For the most part, my body seems to repair itself pretty quickly. Aches and pains pop up, and usually within a few days they go away. I’m usually good at listening to my body, and I’ve developed strategies for attacking aches that seem to be very effective for me (e.g., mixing up shoes). However, the one pain that appeared and simply did not want to go away began in late 2010.

I can’t remember exactly when my heel pain started, but I think it was shortly after the above-mentioned race in which I injured myself. I know that the pain was in full force in January 2011, and it lingered for well over a year. The symptoms pointed to a classic case of plantar fasciitis. Pain, sometimes intense, upon first waking up in the morning, just below my left heel. It hurt to put any kind of pressure on my heel for the first few steps after getting out of bed. After a bit of walking the pain would ease off, and on most days it would go away such that it wasn’t a big deal. Sometimes it would hurt on runs, most often not, and it was never bad enough to keep me from running (I didn’t miss a single day of running due to heel pain). I couldn’t find any pattern linking my footwear choices to the appearance of the pain, except that shoes with hard heels made it hurt when I walked (e.g., Merrell Trail Glove and Vibram Trek Sport), and I recall one memorably painful run in the Saucony Guide 5 (talk about shoes that have little in common!).

Until summer 2011, the pain was isolated to my left foot. That summer I ran a 5K in Vibram Fivefingers just to see how fast I could go in a barefoot-style shoe, and though the race went well, I strained the insertion of my abductor hallucis muscle on the inner side of my right heel. The insertion was tender, and not long after that pain appeared underneath my right heel as well. I had what I self-diagnosed to be bilateral plantar fasciitis (I may or may not have had a bit of assistance from Dr. Google, perhaps you know him?).

I was never particularly aggressive in trying to treat the pain, mainly because it was never much more than a first-thing-in-the-morning nuisance. A bit of calf stretching, both straight legged and bent-knee to target the soleus muscle, seemed to do the trick. Being in zero drop shoes at work all day seemed to keep things loose and stretched out (particularly my calves), which I think helped prevent progression to a more severe case, and on most days I’d forget that I even had a problem. But the pain was still there every morning, both under the heels on each side and at the abductor hallucis insertion on the right side. By early 2012 I realized that when something painful lingers for over a year, it might be worth getting it checked out (yes, I am sometimes stubborn). My wife had been seeing a chiropractor friend (Brett Coapland of Performance Health Spine and Sport Therapy) who specializes in treating athletes (she’s had nagging hip issues since the birth of our daughter), and I decided to let him have a go at fixing my feet.

Brett has great manual therapy skills, and he did some active release work and Graston on my feet and calves. He also did a bit of dry needling – not sure if it helped, but it sure felt interesting. He also gave me some exercises and stretches to loosen up my posterior chain – my hamstrings and calves were wickedly tight after years of neglect. We talked a lot about trigger points (I had some really tender spots in my lower legs), and he had me doing regular foam rolling of my calves, particularly my soleus in the lower calf.

The first foam rolling sessions were intensely painful, even worse-so when I used the Rumble Roller, which may as well be a medieval torture device! I remember on one occasion my 2yo son taking the roller away and putting it out in the hall because I was screaming out while rolling my legs. In addition to stretching my hams and calves, I also regularly worked my foot over a rubber bouncy ball (stolen from my kids – they’re a great source of improvised self-therapy devices) and a Foot Rubz ball.

Over the following weeks I noticed my hamstring mobility improving - I actually reached a point where I could touch my toes with locked knees - never been able to do that in my life! Un-weighted, stiff-legged deadlifts in front of a wall seemed to really help stretch out my hams. Foam rolling got progressively less painful, and I became a strong believer that it does actually accomplish something beneficial – it seemed to really work away some of the angry spots in my calves. It’s really hard to say for sure, but the heel pain did seem to subside a bit as I headed into Spring 2012.

Another thing worth mentioning is that in January of this year I started taking Taekwondo classes with my kids. Taekwondo is great for improving flexibility and strengthening the feet and legs. It’s also great for improving balance. We always practice barefoot, and much of the class involves standing on one foot. Again, I don’t know if this helped, but it’s a factor worth mentioning. I also played around a bit with using Therabands for foot strengthening, as well as an AFX Foot Strengthener, which is an interesting device. I’m really lousy when it comes to following through on home strength work though, and given that Taekwondo was a scheduled class twice per week, that was my most consistent outlet for strengthening exercise.

Move the calendar forward to July 2012, and I embarked on the two most intense months of running I have ever undertaken (monthly mileage PR’s in both July and August). And, rather surprisingly, my increase in mileage coincided with a complete cessation of my foot pain. My feet still felt a bit tight when I first woke up (and they still do), but no pain to speak of, and nothing at all during the day or on runs. The lingering pain at the insertion of my right abductor hallucis muscle disappeared as well.Three months later and that’s where I am now – pain free and still not quite sure how I got here.

Lots of people will claim to have the answer to curing plantar fasciitis. I will make no such claim. All I can say is that the diminishment and ultimate cessation of my pain seemed to coincide with three things – starting Taekwondo in January, being treated by Brett and following his advice in the winter through early Spring (mostly for calf work after the initial few appointments), and ramping up my mileage from Spring into summer (2011 was a low for me running-wise – many weeks with only 10-15 miles max). I don’t know which of these factors, if any, was most important in fixing me (or if all played a role), but let me wildly speculate for a minute (this is, after all, a blog and not a medical journal, so I’m allowed to wave my hands around a bit here).

Here’s what I think happened. I started running minimalist in 2009. As it does for most people, moving to low drop shoes, particularly zero drop, non-cushioned shoes, resulted in a lot of initial calf soreness for me. I had sore calves for a long time, and I never did anything to take care of them. No stretching, no foam rolling, nothing. I think that as I accumulated more and more miles in flat shoes my calves got progressively tighter and tighter. Then, I ran a hard marathon training cycle in late 2010, with two hard-effort marathons in late 2010. I think the progressive battering of my calves for over a year combined with those races (and the preceding intense training) may have triggered the pain in my feet. I continued to do nothing to take care of my legs through 2011 (short of being in flat shoes all day to keep my calves from shortening up), and my mileage diminished considerably so there was less positive stimulus for repair. The pain lingered.

As I moved into 2012 I began doing intensive strengthening and flexibility work on my feet and legs in Taekwondo, then added to that by seeing my chiropractor and following his treatment plan. The calf foam rolling worked wonders, and continued flexibility work helped as well. As my calves loosened up, they pulled up less on my calcaneus on each side and eased some of the strain on the plantar fascia below (the tissues are all interconnected). My calves no longer seem to get sore when I run zero drop now, so that is an added bonus. Then, as I increased my mileage I kept a good positive repair stimulus going and kept the blood flowing well to the damaged regions of my feet. Repair occurred, and the pain went away.

The above story sounds good, but it’s just my speculation about what worked. One of my goals in the future is really to dig into the literature on specific running injuries and summarize what we do and don’t know (I hope it doesn’t lead to another book…).

If I had to give advice to anyone dealing with chronic plantar fasciitis it would be to not focus solely on the feet. Consider your calves, as well as regions higher up in the leg. The pain in your foot may simply be a reaction to a problem somewhere else (e.g., incredibly tight calves from going minimalist without any attempt to maintain tissue quality in transition – I’m a disciple of Jay Dicharry in this line of thinking, read his book!).

If you have tight calves, get a foam roller – I really have become a believer in what they can do with regular use. I’ve come to believe that a foam roller should be mandatory equipment for anyone planning to go minimalist, particularly if your goal is to go zero drop. You need to take care of those legs in transition! Do as I say, not as I did – I hope people can learn from my mistake :)

I also think that being in zero drop shoes almost full time prevented progression of my pain into something more severe. Pain occurred for me immediately after any time I relaxed my calves for an extended period of time – at night while sleeping, in the evening on the couch, etc. Wearing flat shoes all day helped to keep my calves fully lengthened while standing and walking, whereas a heel lift would have shortened their working range during the day.

And don’t think that treating pain always requires rest – my pain went away in concert with the biggest ramp-up of mileage in my life! Rest can definitely be helpful in overcoming acute pain, but it doesn’t necessarily resolve the underlying cause – you need to get at the root of the problem if you want long term resolution of the issue. Again, for more on this read Jay Dicharry’s book.

Most importantly, don’t despair – my heel pain, though never acute, lasted for upwards of 16 months. But it’s now gone, and I just ran a half-marathon PR last weekend. There is a light at the end of the sometimes very dark plantar fasciitis tunnel!

Read More

New Balance MT20v2 Review: Solid Shoe, But Questionable Upper Durability

The New Balance Minimus MT20v2 is the sequel to the “mass market” version of the New Balance Minimus Trail MT10. I’ve never quite understood the rationale for why New Balance makes both the MT10 and MT20 since they are basically the same shoe with slightly different designs, but I guess they have their reasons.

I’ve now had the MT20v2 for several months. I’ve done a number of runs in them, and have worn them pretty extensively for both casual wear and for a bit of hiking. Overall, my experience with the shoe has been great, and I was prepared to write a review claiming that the MT20v2 was a dramatic improvement over the original New Balance Minimus Trail MT10 (which gave me trouble since the forefoot band was too tight). For reasons I’ll get to below, I’m now not so sure that I can do that.

Much like the original Minimus Trail, the MT20v2 is a low profile trail shoe without a rock plate, and it has flat lugs that make it suitable for both road and light trail work (i.e., a hybrid shoe). I measure its stack height at 13mm heel:9mm forefoot, so it’s a 4mm drop shoe just like the MT10, and it weighs in right around 6.5oz in my size 10. The toebox is incredibly spacious, probably one of the roomiest I have worn recently. Comfort is excellent, and the shoe looks fantastic.

I’ve actually quite enjoyed my experience so far with this shoe. It runs great – super flexible and just enough cushion to take the edge off on the road while still feeling like a very minimal shoe. I also used it as a hiking shoe on a trip up to northern NH, and it performed exceptionally well for that purpose as well (in my experience less sole stack height = less likely to roll an ankle). Lately I’ve use it a lot for casual wear, and have even worn it to work a number of times. For all purposes it has worked phenomenally well, though I would not recommend it for running on rugged trails since it is not terribly protective. In fact, my only complaint about the shoe is that the margins of the tongue tend to curl, making it hard to get the tongue to lay flat when lacing them up.

So what’s holding me back from recommending the MT20v2?

Last week I was asked on the Runblogger Forum to recommend a shoe for hybrid road/trail use. The New Balance MT20v2 came up as an option, and I initially supported the choice due to my positive experience with them so far. In the ensuing discussion, it came up that reviewers on Amazon and Zapposhave been having some serious durability issues with the MT20v2. The problem seems to be with the synthetic upper material – it has been tearing at flex points in the forefoot, particularly by the little toe. In some it seems to have happened after very little use. There are enough reports of this happening that I’m hesitant to recommend purchase of this shoe (in fact, it is now on sale for $20 off at Zappos,not sure if it’s related to the defect). In fairness to New Balance, I have not yet experienced this issue in my pair, so it’s hard to say if this is a flaw in a single batch of the shoes or a widespread problem that has not turned up in mine due to fit, usage, or some other factor.

This issue brings up a larger problem that I’ve been noticing over the past year or so, and one which does make me suspect that this may be a widespread flaw – the plasticy, monofilament style upper material that has popped up on a number of running shoe uppers seems to be very prone to tearing in regions of frequent flex. I’ve heard reports of the same type of forefoot tearing happening in the Saucony Kinvara 2 (Saucony changed the material in the Kinvara 3), New Balance MT00, and Merrell Mix Master – all have uppers made of a similar material. In fact, Merrell recognized the problem quickly and did the right thing by pulling the original Mix Master off the market. They fixed the issue and released the Mix Master 2 just a few months later (problem now fixed by a new upper material in an otherwise identical shoe).

It will be interesting to see whether New Balance responds to this issue, and what the future will be for monofilament-style uppers (I think that’s the appropriate term for the material, correct me if I’m wrong). At least for me, I’ll be wary of purchasing any shoe made of the material going forward – just to much risk for long term durability.

How about you, have you had upper-tearing issue in any of the shoes mentioned above?

Read More

New Balance MT20v2 Review: Solid Shoe, But Questionable Upper Durability

The New Balance Minimus MT20v2 is the sequel to the “mass market” version of the New Balance Minimus Trail MT10. I’ve never quite understood the rationale for why New Balance makes both the MT10 and MT20 since they are basically the same shoe with slightly different designs, but I guess they have their reasons.

I’ve now had the MT20v2 for several months. I’ve done a number of runs in them, and have worn them pretty extensively for both casual wear and for a bit of hiking. Overall, my experience with the shoe has been great, and I was prepared to write a review claiming that the MT20v2 was a dramatic improvement over the original New Balance Minimus Trail MT10 (which gave me trouble since the forefoot band was too tight). For reasons I’ll get to below, I’m now not so sure that I can do that.

Much like the original Minimus Trail, the MT20v2 is a low profile trail shoe without a rock plate, and it has flat lugs that make it suitable for both road and light trail work (i.e., a hybrid shoe). I measure its stack height at 13mm heel:9mm forefoot, so it’s a 4mm drop shoe just like the MT10, and it weighs in right around 6.5oz in my size 10. The toebox is incredibly spacious, probably one of the roomiest I have worn recently. Comfort is excellent, and the shoe looks fantastic.

I’ve actually quite enjoyed my experience so far with this shoe. It runs great – super flexible and just enough cushion to take the edge off on the road while still feeling like a very minimal shoe. I also used it as a hiking shoe on a trip up to northern NH, and it performed exceptionally well for that purpose as well (in my experience less sole stack height = less likely to roll an ankle). Lately I’ve use it a lot for casual wear, and have even worn it to work a number of times. For all purposes it has worked phenomenally well, though I would not recommend it for running on rugged trails since it is not terribly protective. In fact, my only complaint about the shoe is that the margins of the tongue tend to curl, making it hard to get the tongue to lay flat when lacing them up.

So what’s holding me back from recommending the MT20v2?

Last week I was asked on the Runblogger Forum to recommend a shoe for hybrid road/trail use. The New Balance MT20v2 came up as an option, and I initially supported the choice due to my positive experience with them so far. In the ensuing discussion, it came up that reviewers on Amazon and Zapposhave been having some serious durability issues with the MT20v2. The problem seems to be with the synthetic upper material – it has been tearing at flex points in the forefoot, particularly by the little toe. In some it seems to have happened after very little use. There are enough reports of this happening that I’m hesitant to recommend purchase of this shoe (in fact, it is now on sale for $20 off at Zappos,not sure if it’s related to the defect). In fairness to New Balance, I have not yet experienced this issue in my pair, so it’s hard to say if this is a flaw in a single batch of the shoes or a widespread problem that has not turned up in mine due to fit, usage, or some other factor.

This issue brings up a larger problem that I’ve been noticing over the past year or so, and one which does make me suspect that this may be a widespread flaw – the plasticy, monofilament style upper material that has popped up on a number of running shoe uppers seems to be very prone to tearing in regions of frequent flex. I’ve heard reports of the same type of forefoot tearing happening in the Saucony Kinvara 2 (Saucony changed the material in the Kinvara 3), New Balance MT00, and Merrell Mix Master – all have uppers made of a similar material. In fact, Merrell recognized the problem quickly and did the right thing by pulling the original Mix Master off the market. They fixed the issue and released the Mix Master 2 just a few months later (problem now fixed by a new upper material in an otherwise identical shoe).

It will be interesting to see whether New Balance responds to this issue, and what the future will be for monofilament-style uppers (I think that’s the appropriate term for the material, correct me if I’m wrong). At least for me, I’ll be wary of purchasing any shoe made of the material going forward – just to much risk for long term durability.

How about you, have you had upper-tearing issue in any of the shoes mentioned above?

Read More

Do Runner’s Know Their Arch Height and Amount of Pronation, and Does it Matter?: Study #2

Last week I posted the results of a study published in a conference proceedings back in 2003 that addressed the question of whether runners’ self-assessment of their degree of pronation was accurate or not (i.e., do they know if they overpronate). Their conclusion was that most runners have very poor knowledge of how much they pronate when they run – in fact, they found that 70% of self-proclaimed overpronators actually fall well within the normal range when assessed in a lab.

In this post I’ll summarize the results of a more recently released study that addressed a similar question. The study, titled “Runner’s knowledge of their foot type: Do they really know?” was published in a 2012 issue of The Foot by Eric Hohmann and colleagues of CQ University in Rockhampton, Australia.

Methods

In the study, the authors used carbon paper to take footprints from 92 runners and determined their arch index using computer software. Arch index is a measure obtained by comparing the size of the middle one-third of the footprint (i.e., the arch region) relative to the overall area of the footprint (excluding the toes). Thus, higher values for arch index indicate a flatter arch, and lower values indicate a higher arch. They used previously published cutoffs to define the three arch categories.

In addition to recording arch index, the authors also conducted a clinical examination of the subjects’ feet, as well as an assessment of dynamic overpronation during walking (dynamic overpronation was indicated by arch collapse and an inward roll of the ankle during mid-stance – this seems to have been a subjective rather than objective assessment).

For comparative purposes and to address the question the researchers posed in the title of the article, each subject was asked to define their arch type as flat, normal, or high.They were also asked each whether they believed they were an “overpronator.”

Results

Only 48.9% of the runners correctly identified their own arch type. Of the 41 subjects who scored their arch as flat, only 18 (43.4%) were found to be flat based on the arch index analysis (the other 23 were normal). Of the 48 who classified their arch as normal, only 24 were found to fall within the normal range (21 were found to be flat, and 3 were found to be high). All three subjects who scored their arch as high were confirmed as having a high arch.

Regarding pronation, only 34 out of 72 (47.2%) were able to correctly classify their dynamic pronation. Of the 38 runners who called themselves overpronators, only 4 were actually found to be dynamic pronators on the walk test (10.5% correct). Of the 34 subjects who claimed to be normal pronators, 30 were found to be normal pronators (88% correct). 19 subjects answered that they did not know how much they pronate (3 of these were found to be overpronators). Thus, in total, only 11 out of the 92 subjects (12%) were found to be dynamic pronators.

Commentary

So what can we make of this? First, runners aren’t particularly good at determining their own arch height (only 48.9% did it correctly, that’s a failing grade in my class!). Second, the vast majority of people who think they overpronate do not (about 89% over self-proclaimed overpronators were “normal” in the clinical analysis!). Third, people who think they have normal pronation did a pretty good job of classifying themselves (only 4 were incorrect). In essence, this indicates that for thus subject pool dynamic “overpronation” was actually a rather rare phenomenon, and that most people who think they do it probably don’t.

Why do so many people think they are overpronators? The authors indicate that greater than 15% inward roll is frequently used as a criterion to define overpronation in shoe shops, but suggest that “…it needs to be questioned whether 15% or more inward rolling can be measured clinically at all without the use of technical equipment.” Also, misdiagnosis may be quite common due to shop clerks believing that pronation is a strong predictor of injury risk, which results in a tendency to be overcautious.

The pronation results also suggest that arch height does not correlate well with dynamic pronation (there were 39 flat footed runners, but only 11 overpronators, though which group they belonged to was not specified), which has been shown in other studies as well. Thus, if you are flat footed, it doesn’t necessarily mean you have to be relegated to the motion control wall at the shoe store (whether or not those shoes even work is another issue entirely…).

Extending this a bit further, the authors comment a bit on the significance of these findings as it relates to shoe selection. They point out that “It is currently unknown whether the wearing of “appropriately” selected and tailored running shoes adapted to the individual foot arch are needed at all. Moreover, it is also not clear whether the incorrect selection of a shoe tailored to the foot type has any clinical consequences.” Regarding the latter, they discuss the work of Knapik, who in several studies of military recruits totaling thousands of subjects found no benefit in terms of injury risk reduction to assigning shoes based on clinically assessed arch height.

The authors of the study conclude by saying the following: “…the findings of this research suggest that most runners possess poor knowledge of their foot arch type. Given these findings, it is unlikely that recreational runners are able to select a tailored running shoe to match their foot type and level of pronation.”

On the bright side, if you believe the work of Knapik, even if you get it wrong, it might not matter all that much since choosing the supposed “correct” shoe for your arch provides little benefit when examined over a large group. All of this fuels my belief that shoe fitting as it stands right now is more art than science – experimentation and working with a knowledgeable and experienced store employee who really knows shoes and is willing to think outside the box are our best bets until a better method comes along.

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Do Runner’s Know Their Arch Height and Amount of Pronation, and Does it Matter?: Study #2

Last week I posted the results of a study published in a conference proceedings back in 2003 that addressed the question of whether runners’ self-assessment of their degree of pronation was accurate or not (i.e., do they know if they overpronate). Their conclusion was that most runners have very poor knowledge of how much they pronate when they run – in fact, they found that 70% of self-proclaimed overpronators actually fall well within the normal range when assessed in a lab.

In this post I’ll summarize the results of a more recently released study that addressed a similar question. The study, titled “Runner’s knowledge of their foot type: Do they really know?” was published in a 2012 issue of The Foot by Eric Hohmann and colleagues of CQ University in Rockhampton, Australia.

Methods

In the study, the authors used carbon paper to take footprints from 92 runners and determined their arch index using computer software. Arch index is a measure obtained by comparing the size of the middle one-third of the footprint (i.e., the arch region) relative to the overall area of the footprint (excluding the toes). Thus, higher values for arch index indicate a flatter arch, and lower values indicate a higher arch. They used previously published cutoffs to define the three arch categories.

In addition to recording arch index, the authors also conducted a clinical examination of the subjects’ feet, as well as an assessment of dynamic overpronation during walking (dynamic overpronation was indicated by arch collapse and an inward roll of the ankle during mid-stance – this seems to have been a subjective rather than objective assessment).

For comparative purposes and to address the question the researchers posed in the title of the article, each subject was asked to define their arch type as flat, normal, or high.They were also asked each whether they believed they were an “overpronator.”

Results

Only 48.9% of the runners correctly identified their own arch type. Of the 41 subjects who scored their arch as flat, only 18 (43.4%) were found to be flat based on the arch index analysis (the other 23 were normal). Of the 48 who classified their arch as normal, only 24 were found to fall within the normal range (21 were found to be flat, and 3 were found to be high). All three subjects who scored their arch as high were confirmed as having a high arch.

Regarding pronation, only 34 out of 72 (47.2%) were able to correctly classify their dynamic pronation. Of the 38 runners who called themselves overpronators, only 4 were actually found to be dynamic pronators on the walk test (10.5% correct). Of the 34 subjects who claimed to be normal pronators, 30 were found to be normal pronators (88% correct). 19 subjects answered that they did not know how much they pronate (3 of these were found to be overpronators). Thus, in total, only 11 out of the 92 subjects (12%) were found to be dynamic pronators.

Commentary

So what can we make of this? First, runners aren’t particularly good at determining their own arch height (only 48.9% did it correctly, that’s a failing grade in my class!). Second, the vast majority of people who think they overpronate do not (about 89% over self-proclaimed overpronators were “normal” in the clinical analysis!). Third, people who think they have normal pronation did a pretty good job of classifying themselves (only 4 were incorrect). In essence, this indicates that for thus subject pool dynamic “overpronation” was actually a rather rare phenomenon, and that most people who think they do it probably don’t.

Why do so many people think they are overpronators? The authors indicate that greater than 15% inward roll is frequently used as a criterion to define overpronation in shoe shops, but suggest that “…it needs to be questioned whether 15% or more inward rolling can be measured clinically at all without the use of technical equipment.” Also, misdiagnosis may be quite common due to shop clerks believing that pronation is a strong predictor of injury risk, which results in a tendency to be overcautious.

The pronation results also suggest that arch height does not correlate well with dynamic pronation (there were 39 flat footed runners, but only 11 overpronators, though which group they belonged to was not specified), which has been shown in other studies as well. Thus, if you are flat footed, it doesn’t necessarily mean you have to be relegated to the motion control wall at the shoe store (whether or not those shoes even work is another issue entirely…).

Extending this a bit further, the authors comment a bit on the significance of these findings as it relates to shoe selection. They point out that “It is currently unknown whether the wearing of “appropriately” selected and tailored running shoes adapted to the individual foot arch are needed at all. Moreover, it is also not clear whether the incorrect selection of a shoe tailored to the foot type has any clinical consequences.” Regarding the latter, they discuss the work of Knapik, who in several studies of military recruits totaling thousands of subjects found no benefit in terms of injury risk reduction to assigning shoes based on clinically assessed arch height.

The authors of the study conclude by saying the following: “…the findings of this research suggest that most runners possess poor knowledge of their foot arch type. Given these findings, it is unlikely that recreational runners are able to select a tailored running shoe to match their foot type and level of pronation.”

On the bright side, if you believe the work of Knapik, even if you get it wrong, it might not matter all that much since choosing the supposed “correct” shoe for your arch provides little benefit when examined over a large group. All of this fuels my belief that shoe fitting as it stands right now is more art than science – experimentation and working with a knowledgeable and experienced store employee who really knows shoes and is willing to think outside the box are our best bets until a better method comes along.

Read More

Runblogger's Blogroll

Below are the most recent posts from the blogs that I read most often:

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Runblogger's Blogroll

Below are the most recent posts from the blogs that I read most often:

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Race Recap: New PR at the Smuttynose Rockfest Half Marathon!

One of my most vivid memories from high school was having to complete the 3-mile run in under 21 minutes on the track to make the varsity soccer team. I did it, but just barely (it hurt!), and I can remember teammates puking after they crossed the finish-line.

I’m way more competitive with myself than I am with other people, so my 37-year old self with an additional 10-15 pounds on his frame is feeling pretty happy that he managed blow his teenage self away by running 13.1 miles at 6:41 pace yesterday (not to mention how I feel relative to the considerably overweight me who couldn’t even run 3 miles period just 5 years ago!). Just goes to show that some things can get better with age :)

I went into the race yesterday more confident than I have ever been before any race I’ve run. Why? It wasn’t because of my shoes (though I do love the Saucony Grid Type A5, and they worked out great I the race!), it wasn’t because of my form, it was because I had put in the work. I had trained as hard for this race as any I’ve ever run, and was pushed constantly by my coach Caleb Masland (check him out here, and here’s another post I wrote about working with Caleb – he trained 3 of us to new PR’s yesterday!). My long runs might not have exceeded 14, but I did more speedwork and quality runs these past 3 months than in any previous training cycle, and my mileage in July and August both exceeded previously monthly bests. About 3-4 weeks ago I ran a 14 miler in which about 8 of the miles were well below my half-marathon PR pace (6:51/mile). I was ready for this one, and I knew it.

My goal heading into the race was to shoot for a 2-minute PR. My previous half PR was 1:29:47, and I’ve long felt that was one of the best races I have ever run – it was going to be a tough one to top. Heading into yesterday it was almost two years to the day since I’d been able to put the letters “PR” in a race recap, and a new best was long overdue.

The story of the race itself was merely one of executing my plan, and I managed to do so flawlessly. My goal was to head out around 6:40 pace and hold that steady for as long as possible. I knew the course was ideal for me since I BQ’d at Smuttynose in 2010, and it once again didn’t let me down. It was raining and cool, but that was actually a plus during the race (not so much after finishing…). There were a few small hills that slowed me a bit, by my splits were remarkably consistent (see below), and I was banking about 10 seconds per mile on my previous PR. My only cause for concern was that I wasn’t cutting the turns consistently so my Garmin was measuring the course long – I knew I’d have to correct for that in the home stretch. Correct I did, managing my two fastest splits in miles 12 and 13. In fact, my strong finish makes me wonder if I was a bit too conservative with early pacing, but I’m not going to complain!

Crossing the finish line in 1:27:36 felt incredible and once again reminded me what can be accomplished when you put in the work. I tend to get so caught up in discussing shoes and form that it’s easy to forget that training is really the most important factor when it comes to race performance – you either do what it takes and meet your goal, or you slack off and fall short. There’s nothing quite as satisfying as accomplishing exactly what you set out to do. In fact, the only negative is now this makes me wonder if a sub-3:00 marathon might actually be possible for me…time will tell, but for now it’s time to relax a bit. Just need to make sure the winter doesn’t kill my fitness – thus my goal for the next six months (in addition to taking down my 5K PR) is to simply keep moving and working hard in prep to get back at it in the Spring!

Read More

Race Recap: New PR at the Smuttynose Rockfest Half Marathon!

One of my most vivid memories from high school was having to complete the 3-mile run in under 21 minutes on the track to make the varsity soccer team. I did it, but just barely (it hurt!), and I can remember teammates puking after they crossed the finish-line.

I’m way more competitive with myself than I am with other people, so my 37-year old self with an additional 10-15 pounds on his frame is feeling pretty happy that he managed blow his teenage self away by running 13.1 miles at 6:41 pace yesterday (not to mention how I feel relative to the considerably overweight me who couldn’t even run 3 miles period just 5 years ago!). Just goes to show that some things can get better with age :)

I went into the race yesterday more confident than I have ever been before any race I’ve run. Why? It wasn’t because of my shoes (though I do love the Saucony Grid Type A5, and they worked out great I the race!), it wasn’t because of my form, it was because I had put in the work. I had trained as hard for this race as any I’ve ever run, and was pushed constantly by my coach Caleb Masland (check him out here, and here’s another post I wrote about working with Caleb – he trained 3 of us to new PR’s yesterday!). My long runs might not have exceeded 14, but I did more speedwork and quality runs these past 3 months than in any previous training cycle, and my mileage in July and August both exceeded previously monthly bests. About 3-4 weeks ago I ran a 14 miler in which about 8 of the miles were well below my half-marathon PR pace (6:51/mile). I was ready for this one, and I knew it.

My goal heading into the race was to shoot for a 2-minute PR. My previous half PR was 1:29:47, and I’ve long felt that was one of the best races I have ever run – it was going to be a tough one to top. Heading into yesterday it was almost two years to the day since I’d been able to put the letters “PR” in a race recap, and a new best was long overdue.

The story of the race itself was merely one of executing my plan, and I managed to do so flawlessly. My goal was to head out around 6:40 pace and hold that steady for as long as possible. I knew the course was ideal for me since I BQ’d at Smuttynose in 2010, and it once again didn’t let me down. It was raining and cool, but that was actually a plus during the race (not so much after finishing…). There were a few small hills that slowed me a bit, by my splits were remarkably consistent (see below), and I was banking about 10 seconds per mile on my previous PR. My only cause for concern was that I wasn’t cutting the turns consistently so my Garmin was measuring the course long – I knew I’d have to correct for that in the home stretch. Correct I did, managing my two fastest splits in miles 12 and 13. In fact, my strong finish makes me wonder if I was a bit too conservative with early pacing, but I’m not going to complain!

Crossing the finish line in 1:27:36 felt incredible and once again reminded me what can be accomplished when you put in the work. I tend to get so caught up in discussing shoes and form that it’s easy to forget that training is really the most important factor when it comes to race performance – you either do what it takes and meet your goal, or you slack off and fall short. There’s nothing quite as satisfying as accomplishing exactly what you set out to do. In fact, the only negative is now this makes me wonder if a sub-3:00 marathon might actually be possible for me…time will tell, but for now it’s time to relax a bit. Just need to make sure the winter doesn’t kill my fitness – thus my goal for the next six months (in addition to taking down my 5K PR) is to simply keep moving and working hard in prep to get back at it in the Spring!

Read More

The Honorable Clan of the Long-Distance Runner: Great Article by Amby Burfoot and George Hirsch

I’d like to alert you to an excellent article on running in the New York Times. Written by Amby Burfoot and George Hirsch, the article takes a somewhat philosophical look at what it means to be a runner, and why recent events in the running world such as Kip Litton’s cheating and Paul Ryan’s exaggerated marathon time bother us so much.

Here’s an excerpt:

For true distance runners, to lie about time or distance is to lie to ourselves, to diminish the importance of the many sacrifices we make to reach the starting line. Focus and discipline form the core of a runner’s being; they are what make us put on a reflective vest and run six miles into the sleet at 6 on a dark winter morning.

There are no shortcuts to marathon success. Our race performances are sacred…

It’s a great article, to read it in its entirety click here.

Read More

The Honorable Clan of the Long-Distance Runner: Great Article by Amby Burfoot and George Hirsch

I’d like to alert you to an excellent article on running in the New York Times. Written by Amby Burfoot and George Hirsch, the article takes a somewhat philosophical look at what it means to be a runner, and why recent events in the running world such as Kip Litton’s cheating and Paul Ryan’s exaggerated marathon time bother us so much.

Here’s an excerpt:

For true distance runners, to lie about time or distance is to lie to ourselves, to diminish the importance of the many sacrifices we make to reach the starting line. Focus and discipline form the core of a runner’s being; they are what make us put on a reflective vest and run six miles into the sleet at 6 on a dark winter morning.

There are no shortcuts to marathon success. Our race performances are sacred…

It’s a great article, to read it in its entirety click here.

Read More